| By :
Adrianna Noton
Tattoos date back at least 6000 years; some believe even further back than that. Once upon a time a tattoo would be used to tell people what rank you held within your tribe, maybe to tell your life story or to protect you against spirits. These days, tattoos are a regular, if expensive, fashion accessory. Having one may have seemed like a good idea at the time, having the same tattoo removed is a different matter. You've had the engraving, now you don't want it. Easy to say but not so easy to do. There are many methods of removal on the market but none of them are easy to carry out, will almost certainly cause you some pain and some will leave scars. Methods include lasering the tattoo off, using creams to fade it, using chemicals to dissolve it or quite literally sanding it off your skin. Laser treatment is the number one method used for tattoo removal. It involves passing tiny beams of light into the ink. The light reacts with the ink and starts to fragment it. As the process goes on, the tiny particles of ink will be passed through your body. Not quite as easy or painless as it sounds. This type of treatment involves many visits, around 8 weeks apart and complete removal cannot be guaranteed. Your skin type is one of the deciding factors of the end result. It also depends on the part of the body the design is on and whether it was a professional or amateur one. Whatever happens, it goes without saying that you will suffer some side effects. One of the side effects of having a design removed, as with any medical procedure is pain. General pain control can be used to counteract this though as it is not too severe. Both local and general anaesthetic may also be used in this procedure although this is not too common. Depending on the depth and size of the ink scarring may occur and the skin where the design is located will need special attention during and after treatment. There are several other methods used to remove designs but some of these are not recommended. Using chemicals to remove the ink is one way. The skin will blister when it comes into contact with the chemicals and come away. An extremely painful procedure this should only be carried out by someone with suitable qualifications. A procedure called dermabrasion is another one. The design is literally sanded away using a special tool. You will be left with a painful bleeding patch and scars. Physical removal of tattoos is not the only method anymore. Perhaps one of the better methods now is to fade the ink. A series of creams is applied to the design over a period of time and eventually the ink fades until it almost invisible. There are no reported side effects, except for slight skin irritation and there is no chance of scarring. However you choose to have your tattoo removed it will be expensive and it will be time consuming and it will almost certainly be extremely painful.
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